Stephen Curry on Saturday night scored 15 of his 35 points in the fourth quarter as the Golden State Warriors rallied from a nine-point deficit to beat the Phoenix Suns 123-116.
After spending most of the third quarter on the bench in foul trouble, Curry made three of his seven three-pointers in the fourth, including two as part of an 18-8 run to close out the game.
The NBA’s reigning Most Valuable Player capped his night with a behind-the-back pass to Shaun Livingston for a layup that helped extend the Warriors’ record home winning streak to 48 games. Golden State (59-6) also stayed one game ahead of the pace of the 1995-1996 Bulls, who set an NBA record with 72 wins.
Photo: AFP
Marreese Speights added 25 points and nine rebounds off the bench, Klay Thompson scored 20 points and Draymond Green had 19 points and six assists.
Brandon Knight sparked Phoenix’s third-quarter burst with five of his career high-tying seven three-pointers. He finished with 30 points, seven assists and six rebounds.
HORNETS 125, ROCKERS 109
In Charlotte, North Carolina, Kemba Walker scored 17 of his 26 points in the second half as Charlotte used a 27-8 run to open the fourth quarter and beat Houston for their seventh straight victory.
Marvin Williams added 25 points, Jeremy Lin had 16 and Al Jefferson added 10 rebounds and 10 assists for the Hornets. They have won 13 of their past 15 games.
Corey Brewer had 21 points and Dwight Howard added 16 points and 13 rebounds for the Rockets. James Harden struggled from the field, shooting two of 14 and finishing with 12 points and 10 assists.
SPURS 93, THUNDER 85
In San Antonio, Texas, Kawhi Leonard scored 26 points as San Antonio beat Oklahoma City for their 41st straight home victory, the third-longest streak in NBA history.
The Spurs avenged a season-opening loss to the Thunder and made it 32 straight wins to open this season at home, where they have not lost in the regular season since March last year.
Only Golden State, who had won 47 in a row entering Saturday, and the Chicago teams that won 44 straight in 1995-1996 had longer streaks.
LaMarcus Aldridge added 24 points and Tim Duncan had 11 for San Antonio. The Spurs extended their lead over Oklahoma City to 12 games for the second seed in the Western Conference.
Kevin Durant had 28 points for the Thunder.
RAPTORS 112, HEAT 104, OT
In Toronto, DeMar DeRozan matched his season high with 38 points and added 10 rebounds as Toronto outlasted Miami in overtime.
Jonas Valanciunas added 20 points and 10 rebounds, while Kyle Lowry chipped in with 16 points for the Raptors. They secured the season series against the Heat for the second straight season, as well as a potential playoff tiebreaker should they finish with the same record.
Joe Johnson had 28 points, and Luol Deng added 20 for the Heat.
TRAIL BLAZERS 121, MAGIC 84
In Portland, Oregon, Damian Lillard scored 19 points and had 10 of Portland’s season-high 34 assists in the Trail Blazers’ victory over short-handed Orlando.
C.J. McCollum and Allen Crabbe each had 18 points for the Blazers. They won for the sixth time in their past seven home games.
Victor Oladipo scored 18 points for the Magic. They were without starters Elfrid Payton (sprained elbow) and Nikola Vucevic (strained groin), as well as backup guard Brandon Jennings (sore Achilles).
In other results, it was:
‧ Pacers 112, Mavericks 105
‧ Pistons 125, 76ers 111
‧ Nuggets 116, Wizards 100
‧ Hawks 95, Grizzlies 83
‧ Bucks 103, Pelicans 92
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